Draft: The Panesar Draft

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 46...


Nawaz Sharif

Nominated by: @CerealKiller

First-class stats: 0 runs @ 0.00 in 1 match

So you know how Pakistan elected a cricketer to become Prime Minister? No not that one, Nawaz Sharif also used to be a moderately good batsman in his youth and played first-class cricket for Pakistan Railways. I mean sure, his entire career lasted for however long it took him to make a duck, not bowl a ball and not take a catch, but that's still one more first-class game than I'm ever likely to play.

And the player goes to... @ahmedleo414

His team so far:
Wally Edwards
Nawaz Sharif
Brian Vitori
Wilbur Slabber
Ajit de Silva

Well that could certainly be a worse set of five - two good bowlers and an opening batsman in there. Not sure what you'd do with Sharif though - maybe just have him open the batting so he's out of the way sooner.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Oh, that's such a good pick @CerealKiller!

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 47...


Hemantha Devapriya

Nominated by: @blockerdave

First-class stats: 1,761 runs @ 19.14 (best 95) and 161 dismissals (144 caught, 17 stumped) in 70 matches

Yet another pick from Dave's perusal of the AROSA Sri Lanka side, Hemantha Devapriya undoubtedly has the funniest Wikipedia page. Yet another of that side who went to Nalanda college, his career went on a six-year hiatus before he was allowed back into the fold by Colts Cricket Club in '88. Despite his Wikipedia entry describing his batting with words like "explosive" and "top-notch", he was a specialist keeper with a batting average of under 20 who never made a century.

And the player goes to... @deleted member

His team so far:
Terryn Fray
Hemantha Devapriya
Sailung Zorinliana

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 48...

Bill Bell

Nominated by: @Master Bates

Test stats: 2 wickets @ 117.50 (best 1/54) in 2 matches
First-class stats: 44 wickets @ 40.52 (best 4/31) in 21 matches

Like a lot of Kiwi spinners, Bill Bell was picked at a young age and before he was really ready because New Zealand never has spinners to choose from. Seriously, I want you to tell me without looking it up who New Zealand's second-best Test spinner is. You may remember him from another draft - it's John Bracewell with 102 wickets @ 35.81. No bowler has more than 20 wickets at a better average than Ajaz Patel's 33.31. And it gets worse if you just look at home Tests. So there was probably some truth to the comment that Bell was picked "apparently because there must be a bowler of his type". Before long he realised that New Zealand was no place to be a spinner and retired while still in his 20s.

And the player goes to... @Nilay_60

His team so far:
Monkey Hornby
Aakash Chopra
Alec Douglas-Home
Bill Bell
Ranjan Das

Honestly, that's about as good an Unlucky Dip as you're likely to see (apart from Kohli). Solid start to a side where everyone should know their role.

 

[CerealKiller]

Oh, that's such a good pick @CerealKiller!

Would’ve been better if you got him

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 49...


Shawn Findlay

Nominated by: None (Reserve player)

First-class stats: 295 runs @ 14.75 (best 70*) in 11 matches

Remember when the West Indies selectors just gave up and picked Shawn Findlay for a while? And this wasn't when the best 30 players were on strike, this was in more normal times. With so many options available, they chose Shawn Findlay. He was capped eleven times for the West Indies, but on Zimbio he has only seven photos. Two of them show him fielding, two show him hitting the ball, and three of them show him getting out. That pretty neatly summarises his playing career, which I think has now taken him to the United States.

And the player goes to... @deleted member

His team so far:
Terryn Fray
Shawn Findlay
Hemantha Devapriya
Sailung Zorinliana

I mean... he's definitely a better batsman than Terryn Fray.

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 50...


Mohammad Khalil

Nominated by: @ahmedleo414

Test stats: 0 wickets (econ. 4.13) in 2 matches
First-class stats: 486 wickets @ 25.19 (31 5WI, best 9/100) in 127 matches

I feel like Mohammad Khalil's disastrous foray into Test cricket is the main reason that Sadaf Hussain never got a chance. Not that we can hold that specifically against Khalil, it's just an observation. Anyway, Khalil was a much better bowler than his Test aggregate of none for 200 implies; despite a bowling action where he clearly fell away to his right in his delivery stride, his left-arm medium-pace was good enough to nab nearly 500 first-class wickets in a 15-year career. Wasim Akram he was not, but nor was he Anwar Hossain Milon.

And the player goes to... @blockerdave

His team so far:
Clive Rose
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth
Mohammad Khalil
George Gladstone Marais

Not a whole lot of batting in this side is there?

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 51...

Ajay Sharma

Nominated by: @Na Maloom Afraad

Test stats: 53 runs @ 26.50 (best 30) and 0 wickets in 1 match
First-class stats: 10,120 runs @ 67.46 (38 centuries, best 259*) and 87 wickets @ 31.01 (1 5WI, best 5/34) in 129 matches

Okay so there was the meme value of him being a protected player in the Lasagne Draft, but if you're looking for someone who should surely have played more than one Test then Ajay Sharma should surely have been up there. You know who player two Tests? Philip Hutchinson. And yet Sharma only played one. Yeah there was the whole fixing thing, but he was clearly too good for any level of red-ball cricket that he ever played in. Now here's a player a bit better than Terryn Fray or Shawn Findlay.

And the player goes to... @El Loco

His team so far:
Ajay Sharma
Brijal Patel
Pankaj Singh
Alfred Luseno
Chris Martin

Okay so I feel like Loco might be the new winner of the Unlucky Dip. Ajay, Pankaj and Martin is a solid trio; yeah you'll end up having to work around Brijal Patel, but that's a net-win for sure.

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 52...


Jamie Dalrymple

Nominated by: @DalePlaysCricket

First-class stats: 6,544 runs @ 34.08 (12 centuries, best 244) and 172 wickets @ 43.29 (1 5WI, best 5/49) in 135 matches

Look, another picture of Jamie Dalrymple getting out! For real though, he wasn't too bad of a red-ball cricketer - just a solid county pro, which makes him pretty elite by Unlucky Dip standards. He's definitely the best Kenyan-born player we've had so far which is nice, and he's also really good in the field. Certainly not a player you'd be dissatisfied to receive compared to a couple of those who are left.

And the player goes to... @deleted member

His team so far:
Terryn Fray
Shawn Findlay
Jamie Dalrymple
Hemantha Devapriya
Sailung Zorinliana

Definitely the most useful player out of your five, though one suspects he might be spending a lot of his time trying to stave off a batting collapse.

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 53...

Rolland Beaumont

Nominated by: @ahmedleo414

Test stats: 70 runs @ 7.77 (best 31) in 5 matches
First-class stats: 1,086 runs @ 25.25 (1 century, best 121) in 32 matches

By all accounts, Rolland Beaumont was an able and entertaining strokemaker, but one with the temperament of a British politician faced with the prospect of a yes or no question. In the face of pressure, he would freeze up and dead-bat everything, which will have contributed to an entirely disappointing Test career. It probably also didn't help him that he kept getting shunted around the batting order: in five Tests, he batted in five different positions: three, four, five, nine and ten.

And the player goes to... @Bevab

His team so far:
Virat Kohli
Rolland Beaumont
Darren Pattinson
Anwar Hossain Monir
Krishna Kumar

He's got Kohli, he'll be fine. Next!

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Unlucky Dip Player 51...

Ah... I so wanted him to go to @deleted member again

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 54...


Michael Beer

Nominated by: @El Loco

Test stats: 3 wickets @ 59.33 (best 2/56) in 2 matches
First-class stats: 74 wickets @ 40.37 (1 5WI, best 7/46) in 30 matches

Michael Beer's hair lasted slightly longer than his Test career, but only because the latter was gone so soon. He wasn't a bad bowler though - one one particularly memorable occasion that occured between his two Test appearances, he took a staggering 7 for 46 that contained a strong (Watson, Hughes, Khawaja, Smith, Haddin, Rohrer, O'Keefe, Hauritz, Copeland, Lalor, vd Gugten) New South Wales team to defeat by an innings and 323 runs - 303 of which were scored by Liam Davis. It was a weird time. Aside from that spell, Beer wasn't a wicket-taker. On no other occasion did he take more than three wickets in a professional innings, but he was an excellent economy bowler.

And the player goes to... @Yash.

Francis Otieno
Maharajah of Vizianagram
Barney Gibson
Michael Beer
Anurag Thakur

Well erm... you're probably going to need some all-rounders here, given that you have three no-rounders and a non-batting keeper.

 

[Master Bates]

I missed the trick! Did not realise that uncapped players could also have been picked.

 

[Aislabie]

Unlucky Dip Player 55...

Mehrab Hossain

Nominated by: @El Loco

Test stats: 241 runs @ 13.38 (best 71) in 9 matches
First-class stats: 2,838 runs @ 28.38 (5 centuries, best 158) in 61 matches

I feel like these kind of career stats are the sort of thing you'd have seen from players like Bas Zuiderent, Morris Ouma or Geoff Barnett if their respective countries had been granted Test status. But their countries weren't - it was Bangladesh who got the arguably premature promotion after the 1999 World Cup, and players like Mehrab who were faced with one of the steepest learning curves in cricket history. It wasn't pretty, but I do have a weird soft spot for statistically average players.

And the player goes to... @DalePlaysCricket

His team so far:
Mehrab Hossain
Philip Hutchinson
Mason Crane
Rubel Hossain

It's really weird - I can't work out if this side is okay or terrible. It doesn't have anyone like Raja Maharaj Singh, but nor does it have anyone who was really any good.[DOUBLEPOST=1586963339][/DOUBLEPOST]

I missed the trick! Did not realise that uncapped players could also have been picked.

You can nominate any player, so long as they have played at least one first-class match.

I did make it as clear as I possibly could by putting it in the rules, but I've enjoyed looking up guys like Bill Bell

 

[Yash.]

Unlucky Dip Player 54...

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Michael Beer

Nominated by: @El Loco

Test stats: 3 wickets @ 59.33 (best 2/56) in 2 matches
First-class stats: 74 wickets @ 40.37 (1 5WI, best 7/46) in 30 matches

Michael Beer's hair lasted slightly longer than his Test career, but only because the latter was gone so soon. He wasn't a bad bowler though - one one particularly memorable occasion that occured between his two Test appearances, he took a staggering 7 for 46 that contained a strong (Watson, Hughes, Khawaja, Smith, Haddin, Rohrer, O'Keefe, Hauritz, Copeland, Lalor, vd Gugten) New South Wales team to defeat by an innings and 323 runs - 303 of which were scored by Liam Davis. It was a weird time. Aside from that spell, Beer wasn't a wicket-taker. On no other occasion did he take more than three wickets in a professional innings, but he was an excellent economy bowler.

And the player goes to... @Yash.

Francis Otieno
Maharajah of Vizianagram
Barney Gibson
Michael Beer
Anurag Thakur

Well erm... you're probably going to need some all-rounders here, given that you have three no-rounders and a non-batting keeper.

Only Michael Beer is an average player.